Judge tells Michael Bargo: 'Potentially, you are facing the death penalty'

One of six accused in teen's killing in Marion faces judge

April 21, 2011|By Arelis R. Hernández, Orlando Sentinel

Michael Bargo, who allegedly plotted the fatal group attack on a 15-year-old boy that shocked Central Florida, appeared before a judge today in an orange-and-white jail jumpsuit, downtrodden and on the verge of tears.

Bargo, 18, barely opened his swollen eyes and lifted his head only slightly as Marion County Circuit Judge Ritter Hoff-Williams read the charges against him — including first-degree murder — for allegedly leading the attack on Seath Tyler Jackson.

"Potentially, you are facing the death penalty," the judge said.

His muted reaction was in stark contrast to his swagger earlier this week, as deputies escorted him to jail before the public learned how Seath was lured to his death.

Bargo, along with four others accused of first-degree murder, are being held for their alleged roles in carrying out a deadly encounter deputies say he concocted during which Seath was brutally beaten, shot several times and his body burned to ashes.

A sixth suspect, James Young Havens III, 37, the stepfather of two of the teen suspects, is accused of acting as an accessory after the fact and has been released on bond.

His stepchildren are Amber Wright, 15, and 16-year-old Kyle Hooper. The other suspects are 18-year-old Charlie Kay Ely and 20-year-old Justin Soto.

Kyle — in the company of his mother, Tracey Wright — first told deputies that he saw Bargo shoot Seath.

He later admitted that he, his sister and friends had planned the crime and lured Seath to his death, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Deputies say Hooper told them the plans for the crime began to come together as he, Amber, Bargo, Ely and Soto were at Ely's house on Southeast 53rd Avenue in Summerfield on Sunday.

After Bargo said how much he hated Seath, the group hatched its plot to lure Seath to the house, according to arrest affidavits filed in the case.

It's unclear why Bargo so disliked the boy. Seath indicated on his Facebook page that he thought Amber and an older boy he called "Mike" were in a romantic relationship.

He posted on Facebook earlier this year that he loved Amber. But weeks later, they had broken up.

Friends gathered in front of the home Wednesday evening for a candlelight vigil in Seath's honor, saying he didn't deserve what happened to him.

Seath's remains were put into paint buckets and discarded. Some buckets were found in an Ocala lime pit. Authorities were still searching for more remains Thursday.